CW’s Nash erupts for 31 points in overtime playoff loss

MICHAEL SUDHALTER

Published 6:00 pm, Monday, February 15, 2010

BRENHAM - When the UIL Class 5A Girls Basketball Playoffs end next month in Austin, fans will be hard-pressed to find a single-game performance more impressive than the one delivered by Cy Woods High junior guard Jenny Nash on Monday night.

Nash scored a game-high 31 points in the Lady Wildcats’ 57-53 overtime loss to District 16 champion Georgetown (29-3) in the opening round of the playoffs at Brenham High gym.

“She’s always been a catalyst for us,” Cy Woods coach Virginia Flores said. “She’s a great player, she’s determined, and she doesn’t like to lose. She did a great job for us tonight - I’m very proud of her.”

The Lady Wildcats (22-10), playing in their third varsity season, finished fourth in District 15 with a 9-4 record. They were looking for their first postseason victory in school history and faced a tall order against a deep, fundamentally sound Lady Eagles squad.

Georgetown defeated Cy Woods in the first round of the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

On Monday, Nash scored just six points in the first half as Georgetown raced out to a 31-18 halftime lead.

But she managed to score 25 points over the final 20 minutes of the game.

She sparked a 16-4 run in the third quarter, swishing a pair of 3-pointers from NBA range.

The most amazing sequence of the game occurred when Cy Woods guard Alexis Hebert scored on a layup to give the Lady Wildcats’ their first lead since the first quarter.

Nash stole the ball from Georgetown and hit a 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer for a 41-37 lead; CW outscored Georgetown, 23-6, in the third quarter.

But the Lady Eagles were not finished. They started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run to take a 5-point lead.

Cy Woods forward Ashton Jones, a Sam Houston State signee and one of two seniors on the CW roster, scored 11 points in the game, but she fouled out with 2:50 remaining in regulation.

Nash picked up her game even more in Jones’ absence; they combined to score 42 of the team’s 53 points.

Nash missed the game-tying shot, caught her own rebound and then hit the shot that sent the game into overtime.

Trailing 54-51 with 12.8 seconds in overtime, there was a controversial call that awarded Georgetown the ball. The Cy Woods coaches and players believed that Nash’s 3-point attempt had been blocked and went out of bounds on Georgetown.

Eight players scored for the Lady Eagles, and Natalie Polivka led the way with a team-high 11 points.

“(Our players) came out and left it all on the court, and that’s all I ask of them every night,” Flores said. “I’m proud of them, and I couldn’t be more proud of them. I just hate that we have to end it on this note.”